"Well, Ms. Chase. I see that you are quite dedicated. So here is my deal. If, on your journey, anyone is in danger, you may not save them. You only have to do this once." Melinoe said.

"Okay..." I muttered. That shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, sure I have the natural impulse to save people when they need saving...but... "Swear on the River Styx." She whispered to me. "I swear that I will not save somebody when they need saving on the River Styx." I said.

Melinoe chuckled. "Good. Now, come with me. We'll go get those amulets." "How do we know you're not going to try and kill us?" Percy asked, spinning Riptide in a threatening way. Melinoe sighed. "Must you demigods always jump to conclusions?" When he continued to stare at her, she grunted. "Very well. I swear on the River Styx that I will not kill you."

Nodding with satisfaction, Percy fell into line behind Melinoe, the rest of us following in his footsteps.

Melinoe lead us into her cave. She moved quickly, veering sharply into hidden tunnels.

As we walked, I heard a loud thump behind me. "Seriously!? Who puts a wall there!?" Leo yelled. I turned around and started laughing. Leo was on the ground. His face was smeared with dust. "Are you coming?" Melinoe's voice floated to us. I realized that she was already getting so far ahead that I couldn't see her. Quickly helping Leo up, I raced after her.

After a few more minutes of traveling, Reagan called: "Are we there yet?" "Patience, child!" Melinoe hissed. "Just wondering." Reagan whined. "This cave can't be that big, can it?" An evil laugh came from ahead. "Oh, magic can do wonderful things, child."

"Like what?" Reagan asked. She didn't sound accusing. She sounded more curious. "Well, the amulets are magic, yes? Protection. Expanding, of course. That's what I did here. It can burn things away, create things, destroy things, duplicate things, hide things, and summon things. Magic is a beautiful thing."

Reagan sat there, looking awed. "I wish I could use magic." She whispered. "But you can, child. If you put your mind to it, you can do anything."

We walked in silence for a while after that, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Sure, we could use the mist to hide things, change things, and manipulate things, but this seemed different. Hazel was amazing with the mist, but she only had the power to create illusions.

This type of magic had more to it. This was real. This was freaking Harry Potter magic! I wanted to learn how to do it.

Finally, Melinoe stopped. "Well, demigods, this is the spot." She placed one chalky white hand on the rock in front of us. There was a huge rumbling sound. The rock started to move. Dust fell from the ceiling and coated our heads.

"Ew." Percy muttered, shaking his head like a dog. A fresh wave of dust sprayed us. "Percy!" I yelped. Percy stopped and looked at me innocently. "What?" I glared at him. "I was just shaking out my hair. Geez, Erica, take a joke."

I pushed Percy. Not hard, but of course he had to overreact. He fell down and skidded halfway across the ground. "Erica!" "Oh, don't be such a drama queen, Water Boy." I said. Percy scowled. "Learn that one from Leo, huh?"

"Why, yes she did." Leo said, bowing. I rolled my eyes. "Do you really have to be such a show off?" Annabeth asked. Leo grinned. "Well, Wise Girl. Two things for you here. One, I would not be Leo Bad Boy Supreme Valdez if I did not show off. Two, do you always have to be such a smart aleck?"

Annabeth smirked. "In the words of Mr. Supreme Valdez; I would not be Annabeth Kick Butt Chase if I wasn't a smart aleck."

Leo bit his lip. "Got me there, Wise Girl."

"I'm still on the ground, you know!" Percy yelled. Annabeth grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him to his feet.

Melinoe cleared her throat behind us. "Now that you are done with that," she said, "why don't you follow me and come get your amulets?"

~*~

We all let out a collective gasp as we stepped into the cave. The walls were lined with shelves. Countless amulets and glass vases lined the walls, all glowing green and yellow. Stalactites dropped from the ceiling, some of them almost touching the ground.

"Amazing." Annabeth mused, touching one of the stalagmites. "Did you make this?" Melinoe gave her the first somewhat nice smile I had seen. "Actually it was here. Made by nature itself."

"Funny how something so beautiful can be so close to the fields of punishment." Piper said. Melinoe touched one of the amulets. "Yes," she agreed, almost cautiously, "how odd..."

Picking her way along the walls, Melinoe started to explain things. "This one," she said, gesturing to a swirly green vase, "is the one that unleashes angry spirits." "Oh, joy." Lola said sarcastically.

Melinoe turned to look at her. "Isn't it?" She asked cheerfully.

Finally, she came to the amulets that were going to help us. They were neon yellow with silver edging. "One each." She said, handing them out to us. We each put them around our necks. Leo looked around at all of us, an amused expression on his face. "Easy to spot one another in a crowd, I suppose." He said. Everyone grinned.

"Hey, where's Melinoe?" Frank asked. Jason scanned the cave. Suddenly his eyes widened and he froze with a look of horror on his face. We all glanced over and gasped. Melinoe, with her eyes glowing gold, was freezing my friends.

Soon, Percy and I were the only mobile ones. "You said you wouldn't kill us!" I shouted, alarm making my voice waver. Melinoe laughed. "I said I wouldn't kill you, girl. I never said I wouldn't severely injure you."

She took out a celestial bronze knife. "And now, Erica Chase, it is time for you to prove yourself."

Melinoe threw the knife. I watched helplessly as it flew toward my brother. Melinoe cackled evilly as the blade struck Percy in the chest.

I watched Percy crumble to the ground. The light in his eyes slowly disappearing, being replaced by cold emptiness.

He was dead.

And it was my fault.

~*~

A/N: Don't hate me! I don't want to spoil anything so I can't tell you what's going on in my magnificent brain right now. But if you've read Harry Potter and you're clever enough, you should be able to figure this out.
Really.
I'm not joking.
Seriously.

Peace out!